by Sian Ceinwen
Every now and again, it would hit her that she was going to be meeting the band tomorrow, and every time, she was just as stunned as when she’d first found out. That night, she lay in the bed in their hotel suite with a smile on her lips. Tomorrow, she would be meeting her favorite band.
2
LEVEL 1.6 – A Challenge Has Presented Itself
Even though you have not conceived yet, you are already two weeks into your pregnancy.
There must have been approximately a million butterflies flying around in Lita’s stomach; she’d never felt this nervous in her life before. It was six-thirty, and Stephanie had called her this afternoon to confirm the band would meet them in the lobby at seven. Now they were just trying to kill time before then.
“I wish we had any kind of idea what we’d be doing tonight,” Becky moaned, while still trying to decide what to wear.
“Same; I should have asked, sorry,” Lita caught her friend’s eyes in the mirror and shrugged as she swiped some red lipstick over her lips.
Lita’s long, brown hair was hanging in loose waves, and she flicked it behind her as she stood up and capped her lipstick. She’d decided to wear a pair of tight blue jeans with a plain white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket over the top.
She was wearing a pair of black heels as well, figuring that, even if they ended up going to a nightclub or something, she wouldn’t be too dressed up or down, but would also be comfortable. It had been a struggle to resist putting on her trusty Converse sneakers instead, though.
Becky ended up going with a black skirt which ended a few inches above her knees, and a blue t-shirt that looked good with her shoulder-length blonde hair and cream-colored skin, but also matched with the blue heels she’d chosen to wear.
“Just how many pairs of shoes did you bring with you, Rebecca Moss?” Lita laughed as her friend started stuffing shoes back into her suitcase once she had found the blue ones she wanted.
“Too many, obviously,” Becky grinned.
Lita went over to the mini bar, grabbed out a tiny bottle of tequila and took a swig, shaking her head and breathing out the fire in her mouth as she handed the bottle to Becky. “Your turn.”
Becky took a swig and threw the empty bottle in the bin as they left their suite. “Can you believe that thing just cost somebody about twenty dollars?”
They took the elevator down to the lobby. It was six-fifty-five now. In five minutes, she was going to meet Cruise Control.
“Here we go,” Lita said as the elevator pinged to let them know they’d reached the lobby. “Here’s hoping I don’t puke on them when we meet!”
They were both laughing as the elevator doors opened and they exited it into the lobby. Lita saw them immediately. The guys from Cruise Control had already arrived, and they were sitting on sofas in the lobby, waiting for them. Her laughter died at once, as her nerves returned in full force; they were all magnificent in person.
The band sat there as though they owned the place, looking completely and utterly comfortable with themselves and supremely unconcerned by the attention they were attracting from other hotel guests. Lita could see Phoebe over at the check-in desk, maintaining a very professional attitude, but still looking at Cruise Control surely more than she would look at any other guest if they had been sitting there.
Every one of them sported a fantastic physique that spoke of hours spent in the gym to maintain it. Gabriel had blonde hair and blue eyes, and he reminded Lita a lot of Thor, while the other three were all dark-haired—Harrison and Hayden with brown hair and eyes, but Sebastian had bright blue eyes, which were shockingly at odds with his black hair.
Lita tried to regulate her breathing as she walked toward them. She looked over at Becky, who looked completely and utterly besotted right now. God, is that how she looked herself? She cringed internally, but then figured it didn’t matter. These guys knew how gorgeous they were, surely.
They reached the group, and Gabriel smiled up at them. “Hi, does one of you happen to be Lita?”
“Yes, I am.” She went over to him and shook his hand. “I didn’t expect you guys to be here.”
“Were you thinking of meeting some other band tonight?” Sebastian drawled at her from next to Gabriel.
Lita caught his gaze and felt sparks of electricity shoot through her from head to toe. She couldn’t look away from him and just stared into his gorgeous blue eyes as he reached a hand out toward her.
“Sebastian Fox,” he said.
Lita looked at his hand. Then, with some trepidation, she reached her hand out to shake his. At once, she found herself overwhelmed with a feeling she recognized as lust. She wanted this man in a bed with her right now.
She forced herself to breathe as their handshake ended and he let go of her hand. Well, shit, that was how he did it. Once Lita had moved on to greet Harrison and was no longer looking at Sebastian, she was able to remember all of the reasons he was dangerous.
“Congratulations on the wedding,” Lita said to Harrison, nodding at his wedding ring.
“Thanks, Lita,” he smiled at her, with a look of pride and joy on his face.
Lita had finally reached the band member she’d been most excited and nervous to meet; Hayden was sitting in an armchair next to Harrison and smiled up at her. “Hi, Lita, I’m Hayden.”
She smiled back at him as she shook his hand.
“Why don’t you take a seat with us for a minute?” Lita heard Sebastian say from behind her. “We’ll talk about the plans for tonight.”
Lita turned to face him, and he was indicating to the space between himself and Gabriel on the sofa where they were sitting. She blinked at him, unable to respond immediately.
“Um, sure. Makes sense,” Lita finally managed to say as she moved back toward him.
Lita had the strangest feeling come over her—it was as though she was walking into a trap. Alarm bells were calling at her to signal danger, but she ignored them and sat down where he’d indicated.
She couldn’t look at Sebastian again, so she looked over at Harrison and Hayden instead. A luxury that sitting next to Sebastian afforded her was not having to look at him. Lita’s breathing was still shallow, though. She was completely and utterly aware of his presence in the space next to her on the sofa. Becky had taken a seat next to Harrison on the sofa where he was sitting.
Thankfully, her friend had managed to keep her head, because Becky asked, “So, what’s the plan for the evening?”
“We didn’t want to just plan this without asking what you guys wanted to do,” Hayden told her with a smile. “Obviously, we’re taking you guys to dinner first. We can go to a club for some drinks afterward, or we could find something else to do if you’re not interested in clubbing.”
“We should play pool,” Sebastian said casually from beside her, and Lita whipped her head around to face him.
“For real?” She grinned with excitement.
Sebastian turned his head to look at her, and, as their eyes met, she felt it again. The force of his physical presence was overwhelming her. He was looking at her with open curiosity. She watched as his eyes roamed over her body, down to her feet, then back up again. Lita could have sworn he was touching her; his gaze felt so intense. Then he smiled, and she couldn’t breathe at all.
“Yes, for real; do you want to?”
He was looking into her eyes again. She groped around in her brain for a response to his question. Her brain was helpfully supplying an alternative meaning to his question, one where he was asking her for sex instead. Finally, she accessed the neural pathways required to respond appropriately.
“Absolutely.” She forced a smile to meet his and hoped it looked more natural than it felt. “I love playing pool.”
Sebastian finally looked away from her, and Lita found herself wanting to pant to catch her breath. He laughed, and she thought the sound might be the most erotic sound she’d ever heard.
“Well, that’s two votes for pool, then. Does anyone else wa
nt to play with Lita and me?”
She almost moaned when Sebastian said her name. What the fuck had happened in her brain in the last five minutes? Lita was sensible, and she was smart. Too smart to get wet for Sebastian Fox, that was for sure. She was horrified by her body’s reaction to him and looked over at Hayden. He smiled back at her, and she felt…absolutely nothing. Just polite happiness to meet him.
“You know I always enjoy playing pool,” Hayden said with a smile.
“Lord knows why,” Harrison said with a roll of his eyes. “What about you, Becky?”
“Oh, there’s nothing more enjoyable than playing pool with Lita,” Becky said dryly. “But if everyone else wants to play…” she trailed off with a shrug of her shoulders.
This comment was enough to draw Sebastian’s attention back to Lita and, god knew, she could not handle the force of it. She wished Becky had kept her mouth shut.
“You obviously like to play a lot, then?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
Why the fuck did everything that came out of his mouth sound like it had a sexual undertone? Probably because it did. Probably because it turned out Sebastian Fox was pretty much sex incarnate. Lita had always thought women slept with him because he was a gorgeous rock star, but even knowing what she knew about him, she could feel the effect his sexual magnetism was having on her.
“Yeah, I play whenever I get the chance. It’s fun,” she managed to reply.
She ignored Becky’s snort at the way she was playing down her skill at the game. Lita had grown up with a pool table in her family home. She’d been playing since she was so young that she needed to stand on a stool to see the table and take her shots.
Sebastian threw an arm around her shoulders, far too casually, and said, “I think we’re going to be great friends, Lita.”
His hand seared her skin through her jacket; she could feel the pressure of it on her arm as he pulled her toward him for a hug. Lita’s body pressed up against his side, and she couldn’t stop her face from tilting up toward his. It occurred wildly to Lita, as Sebastian looked down at her, he might kiss her. Their faces were so close now; she could imagine, to anyone who saw them, they would look as close as lovers.
Lita didn’t know if he’d had the same thought, but Sebastian certainly removed his arm from around her very quickly. He stood up abruptly, before announcing to them all, “Well, let’s go eat. The faster we eat, the faster I can kick people’s asses at pool.”
Lita swallowed heavily, able to breathe again, but the empty space where he’d been sitting until a moment ago felt terrible. She wanted him back next to her, she realized. Everyone else was standing now, so Lita stood as well, and followed the band toward the entrance of the hotel. She noticed some men in suits who had been standing nearby start to follow them.
She knew they’d all gotten bodyguards last year after they’d been drugged. Lita wondered how it must feel to have someone following you around all the time. Although, she supposed, people following them around was pretty much the reason why they had them in the first place.
Sure enough, as they exited the hotel, the men in suits took the lead and held back a crowd of people with cameras as they called out questions.
“Gabriel, where’s Ariana?” was the first question.
“Sebastian, are you having a threesome tonight, then?” another person asked to Lita’s horror.
“Harrison, where’s your wife?”
“Sebastian! Is one of these women your new girlfriend?” someone else called.
“Hayden, what about you? Where’s your girl?”
They finally reached the limousine waiting for them and got into it. Lita felt a massive sense of relief as the door was closed by one of the suited men, and the people’s questions were shut out.
“Holy shit,” Lita said, releasing a breath loudly as she did. “Is this what you guys put up with every day?”
She’d ended up sitting between Hayden and Harrison along the side of the limousine. Becky was on the other side of Hayden, while Gabriel and Sebastian were seated at the back, facing them.
“It sure is,” Sebastian said to her, causing her to look at him.
Lita swallowed quickly, ignoring the feelings he was stirring inside of her. “Doesn’t seem like much fun to me.”
“It’s the price of fame. We get all the perks—” He paused for a second. Lita saw him look her over once again, and couldn’t stop herself from blushing, before he continued what he was saying: “—But we also have to deal with that.”
She could see the amusement in his face as he said it. Lita was frustrated because she could tell Sebastian knew precisely what he was doing to her. He was still looking at her now. If she’d thought sitting away from him might afford her some kind of shelter, then she had been wrong.
Lita had always wondered why so many fans slept with Sebastian Fox. Well, she finally had the answer; it was because it was clearly too hard not to sleep with him if he’d set his sights on you. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, if he asked her to right now, she would sleep with him in a heartbeat.
There was no way she could possibly have prepared mentally for the effect he was having on her tonight. Lita had come here expecting to leave with an even bigger crush on Hayden, yet she had practically forgotten he existed from the minute she had met Sebastian.
Lita managed to look away from him, toward Harrison on her left, and asked, “Where are we going to dinner?”
“An Italian restaurant called Giovanni’s,” he said, then frowned as Lita cringed involuntarily. “Oh, no, that’s not a good look. Not a fan?”
Becky laughed behind her. “I learned a long time ago not to take Lita to Italian restaurants.”
“What’s wrong with Italian?” Gabriel asked, sounding curious.
His question forced Lita to turn her head in his direction, but she firmly avoided looking at Sebastian as she replied, “Nothing. It’s just most Italian restaurants I’ve been to have terrible food.”
She could rant about this for hours. Lita loved her culture and traditional Italian food, but the vast majority of restaurants she’d eaten at just served up a bastardized version of the dishes she knew and loved. Lita had found very few that were run by Italian families and served amazing food. Generally, she would much rather cook Italian food than risk trying a restaurant, especially in a new city.
“Lita Ciccone,” Sebastian said slowly. She was still avoiding his gaze, but Lita couldn’t pretend to herself that she didn’t love the sound of her name coming out of his mouth. “An Italian princess.”
Lita felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Surely, everyone else in the car could see what was happening. This was so embarrassing, and she wished he would stop. Not because she disliked the feelings he was stirring in her, but because she didn’t want to enjoy them as much as she did.
“I’m sorry, Lita,” Harrison said, giving her some relief by breaking the tension. “It was my choice. It’s my favorite restaurant. It is run by an Italian family, though, so hopefully, it will exceed your expectations.”
“It’s fine, Harrison, I’m sorry for being a brat. I’ve been meaning to thank you guys so much for tonight. So far, this weekend has been absolutely amazing!” she smiled at him.
“You’re welcome.” He returned her smile. “So, how long have you been a fan?”
“Since Cards Have Been Dealt came out. I love your music; it’s incredible.” She turned to look at Gabriel, “Heart Wide Open is my favorite album, though. I think I had ‘Hurts Like Hell’ on repeat all last year.”
Sebastian was leaning back in his seat, his legs stretched out in front of him, one ankle over the other, and he was looking at her through hooded eyes. “Bad breakup, princess?”
Lita ignored the utterly overwhelming sense of attraction she was feeling toward him and forced a cool smile onto her face. “Yes, Sebastian, my ex couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Know anyone like that?”
She heard Hayden’s burst of laughter next to h
er, and he said, “Ooh, shots fired, Seb!”
“Not keeping my dick in my pants isn’t a problem for me, though,” Sebastian smirked. “I’m not beholden to anyone for where it goes, except myself.”
“I see,” Lita said. “That sounds like a completely and utterly fulfilling way to go through life.”
“At least I’m not cheating on anyone, princess,” he shrugged.
Lita laughed. “Or you could be in a relationship and not cheat on the person you’re with.”
“And be beholden to someone as to when and where I put my dick places?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Pass, thanks.”
“Hey, you’re the one who’s missing out.” Lita looked at Sebastian for a second, then she smiled. “ I’m sure it seems very thrilling to sleep with whomever you want, whenever you want, sex without love is really just glorified masturbation.”
This time, Sebastian laughed. “You should try it sometime, princess. If it’s just ‘glorified masturbation,’ then you’re doing something wrong.”
Lita rolled her eyes at him. “This is pointless. How the hell did I end up trying to convince Sebastian Fox, of all people, that love and relationships are better than meaningless, casual sex?”
“Casual? Yes. Meaningless? No. Not if you’re doing it right, anyway.” He ran his eyes over her body once again.
The air between them sizzled with tension, and Lita decided to acknowledge exactly what had been happening.
“I’m sure sex with you would be quite meaningful, Sebastian, it’s just not particularly a ride I want to take, personally.”
Lita heard Harrison chuckle quietly next to her as Sebastian warned her, “I like a challenge, princess.”
“I’m sure you do. I hope you find one that’s to your tastes one day,” she said, and blew him a sarcastic kiss.
This caused everyone else to laugh as the car came to a stop in front of an Italian restaurant. Sebastian was still looking at her, even when one of the suited men opened the door for him to exit the car.